Editing Liège Province

{{Short description|Province of Belgium}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
| name                    = {{native name|fr|Liège}}
| native_name             = {{Native name|de|Lüttich}}<br>{{native name|nl|Luik}}<br>{{native name|wa|Lîdje}}
| native_name_lang        = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type         = [[Provinces of Belgium|Province of Belgium]]
| image_alt               = Liègois landscape scene: The Coo Waterfalls
| image_flag              = Flag of the Province of Liège.svg
| flag_size               = 120x80px
| image_shield            = Wapen van Luik (provincie).svg
| shield_size             = 100x90px
| image_blank_emblem      = Liège.svg
| blank_emblem_type       = [[Brandmark]]
| blank_emblem_size       = 120px
| coordinates             = {{Coord|50|38|N|05|34|E|region:BE-WLG|display=inline,title}}
| image_map               = Province de Liège in Belgium.svg
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = {{BEL}}
| subdivision_type1       = Region
| subdivision_name1       = {{BE-WAL}}
| seat_type               = Capital {{small|(and largest city)}}
| seat                    = [[Liège]]
| leader_title            = Governor
| leader_name             = [[Hervé Jamar]]
| area_total_km2          = 3857
| area_footnotes          = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bestat.statbel.fgov.be/bestat/crosstable.xhtml?view=90c1e218-dc4f-4827-824d-9b25abfefe59|title=Be.STAT}}</ref>
| population_footnotes    = <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://statbel.fgov.be/nl/themas/bevolking/structuur-van-de-bevolking|title = Structuur van de bevolking &#124; Statbel}}</ref>
| population_total        = 1,119,038
| population_as_of        = 1 January 2024
| population_density_km2  = auto
| demographics_type1      = GDP
| demographics1_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/tgs00003/default/table?lang=en | title=EU regions by GDP, Eurostat|access-date=18 September 2023}}</ref>
| demographics1_title1    = Total
| demographics1_info1     = €34.715 billion (2021)
| iso_code                = BE-WLG
| blank_name_sec2         = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] (2021)
| blank_info_sec2         = 0.908<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web|title=Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/BEL/?levels=1%2B4&interpolation=1&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&years=2019}}</ref><br/>{{color|green|very high}} · [[List of Belgian provinces by Human Development Index|8th of 11]]
| website                 = {{URL|http://www.provincedeliege.be/|Official site}}
}}

'''Liège''' ({{IPAc-en|l|i|ˈ|ɛ|ʒ|,_|l|i|ˈ|eɪ|ʒ}} {{respell|lee|EZH|,_|lee|AYZH}};<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/amp/english/liege|title=Liège|work=[[Collins English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|access-date=2 March 2019}}</ref><ref>[https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/us/Liège "Liège"]{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} (US) and {{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/Li%C3%A8ge |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826135114/https://www.dictionary.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2022-08-26 |title=Liège |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Liège|access-date=2 March 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ljɛʒ|lang|Fr-Liège.ogg}}; {{langx|wa|Lîdje}} {{IPA|wa|liːtʃ|}}; {{langx|nl|Luik}} {{IPA|nl|lœyk||Nl-Luik.ogg}}; {{langx|de|Lüttich}} {{IPA|de|ˈlʏtɪç||De-Lüttich.ogg}}) is the easternmost [[Provinces of Belgium|province]] of the [[Wallonia]] region of [[Belgium]].

Liège Province is the only Belgian province that has borders with three countries. It borders (clockwise from the north) the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] province of [[Limburg (Netherlands)|Limburg]], the [[Germany|German]] states of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] and [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], the [[Luxembourg|Luxembourgish]] canton of [[Clervaux (canton)|Clervaux]], the Belgian Walloon (French-speaking) provinces of [[Luxembourg (Belgium)|Luxembourg]], [[Namur (province)|Namur]] and [[Walloon Brabant]] and the Belgian [[Flemish Region|Flemish]] (Dutch-speaking) provinces of [[Flemish Brabant]] and [[Limburg (Belgium)|Limburg]].

Part of the eastern-most area of the province, [[Belgium–Germany border|bordering Germany]], is the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium|German-speaking region]] of [[Eupen-Malmedy]], which became part of Belgium in the aftermath of [[World War I]].

The capital and the largest city of the province is the city of the same name, [[Liège]]. The province has an area of {{convert|3857|km2|abbr=on}}, and a population of 1.12 million as of January 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://statbel.fgov.be/nl/themas/bevolking/structuur-van-de-bevolking|title = Structuur van de bevolking &#124; Statbel}}</ref>

== History ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=October 2022}}
The modern borders of the province of Liège date from 1795, which saw the unification of the Principality of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Liège]] with the [[French First Republic|revolutionary French]] Department of the [[Ourthe (department)|Ourthe]] (sometimes spelled Ourte). (Parts of the old Principality of Liège also went into new French départements [[Meuse-Inférieure]], and [[Sambre-et-Meuse]].)

The province of Ourthe, as it was known then, was under [[First French Empire|French control]] during the reign of [[Napoleon]], who visited the city during one of his campaigns. Napoleon ordered the destruction of its vineyards in order to prevent the Liège wine industry from competing with those elsewhere in France{{fact|date=April 2024}}. 

Following [[Abdication of Napoleon, 1815|Napoleon's fall from power]] in 1815, Liège became part of the [[Kingdom of the Netherlands]], while eastern half of modern [[Verviers]] became part of the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]. Liège University scholars helped to write the new Dutch constitution after the [[Napoleonic Wars]]{{Citation needed|date=December 2013}}. Despite these contributions there was a widespread perception among the people of Liège that they were discriminated against by the Dutch government due to religious and language differences.

In September 1830, rumors spread of a revolt in Brussels to expel the Dutch. Liège intellectuals responded to these events by contacting Walloon scholars living in Paris to discuss Belgian independence.  A militia was formed to press these demands led by Charlier "Wooden Leg" leading (eventually) to the [[Belgian Revolution|formation of an independent Kingdom of Belgium]].

In the 19th century, the province was an early center of the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Its rich coal deposits and steel factories helped Belgium to form the basis of the region's increasing economic power.

During the 20th century, due to Liège's borders with Germany, it saw fierce fighting in both World Wars. In [[World War I]], Liège's strong line of reinforced concrete military forts temporarily halted the [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|German advance through Belgium]], giving time to construct trenches in Flanders which subsequently saw some of the worst fighting of that war. It also saw some of the war's worst civilian casualties as the [[German Army (German Empire)|Imperial German Army]] performed [[Collective punishment|collective punishments]] against local villagers for acts of resistance.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hastings|first=Max|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/828893101|title=Catastrophe 1914 : Europe goes to war|date=2013|isbn=978-0-307-59705-2|edition=1st American|location=New York|oclc=828893101}}</ref> In 1925 the [[Eupen-Malmedy|East Cantons]] and [[Neutral Moresnet]], that had become part of Belgium as a result of the [[Treaty of Versailles]], were absorbed into the province of Liège.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.journalbelgianhistory.be/en/system/files/article_pdf/004_OConnell_Vincent_2013_4.pdf|title="Left to their own devices". Belgium's Ambiguous Assimilation of Eupen-Malmedy (1919-1940)|last=O’Connell|first=Vincent|journal=Journal of Belgian History|year=2013|page=16|volume=XLIII|issue=4}}</ref>

In [[World War II]], Liège was the site of major fighting during the [[Battle of the Bulge]]. There, the Germans orchestrated their final offensive move against the combined Allied armies. Malmedy and [[St. Vith|Saint-Vith]] in particular saw intense battles against the [[Nazi Germany|Nazis]]. Malmedy was the site of a [[Waffen-SS]] [[Malmedy massacre|massacre]] of [[United States Army|U.S. Army]] prisoners of war. 

Liège's heavy industry thrived in the 1950s and 1960s{{Citation needed|date=December 2013}}but has been in decline since that time. Nevertheless, Liège remains the last city of Wallonia to maintain a functioning steel industry.{{cn|date=April 2022}}

Liège continues to be the economic and cultural capital of Wallonia, with its university, medieval heritage and heavy industry{{Citation needed|date=December 2013}}.

== Politics ==
=== Provincial Council ===
==== 2006–2012 ====
[[Image:Arcades Cinquantenaire Liège.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Allegory]] of Liège, [[Parc du Cinquantenaire]], [[Bruxelles]].]]
[[Image:Composition du Conseil Provincial de Liège - Législature 2006-2012.svg]]
{| class="wikitable alternance"
! scope=col | Party
! scope=col | Seats
|-
! scope=row | [[Parti socialiste (Belgium)|Parti socialiste]]
| 32
|-
! scope=row | [[Mouvement réformateur]]
| 24
|-
! scope=row | [[Centre démocrate humaniste]]
| 13
|-
! scope=row | [[Ecolo]]
| 11
|-
! scope=row | [[Christian Social Party (Belgium)|Christlich Soziale Partei]] 
| 2
|-
! scope=row | [[National Front (Belgium)|National Front]]
| 1
|-
! scope=row | [[Sozialistische Partei]]
| 1
|}

==== 2012–2018 ====
[[Image:Composition du Conseil Provincial de Liège - Législature 2012-2018.svg]]
{| class="wikitable alternance"
! scope=col | Party
! scope=col | Seats
|-
! scope=row | [[Parti socialiste (Belgium)|Parti socialiste]]
| 20
|-
! scope=row | [[Mouvement réformateur]]
| 17
|-
! scope=row | [[Centre démocrate humaniste]]
| 7
|-
! scope=row | [[Ecolo]]
| 8
|-
! scope=row | [[Workers' Party of Belgium|Parti du travail de Belgique]] 
| 2
|-
! scope=row | [[Christian Social Party (Belgium)|Christlich Soziale Partei]]
| 1
|-
! scope=row | [[Sozialistische Partei]]
| 1
|}
==== 2018–2024 ====
<ref>{{cite web|title=Conseil provincial {{!}} Province de Liège|url=https://www.provincedeliege.be/fr/node/33|website=Mobilité durable {{!}} Province de Liège|language=fr|access-date=2018-11-14|publication-date=}}</ref>
[[Image:Composition du Conseil Provincial de Liège - Législature 2018-2024.svg]]
{| class="wikitable alternance"
! scope=col | Party
! scope=col | Seats
|-
! scope=row | [[Parti socialiste (Belgium)|PS]]-[[Sozialistische Partei|SP]]
|17
|-
! scope=row | [[Mouvement réformateur]]
|15
|-
! scope=row | [[Ecolo]]
|12
|-
! scope=row | [[Centre démocrate humaniste|CDH]]-[[Christlich Soziale Partei (Belgium)|CSP]]
|6
|-
! scope=row |  [[Workers' Party of Belgium|Parti du travail de Belgique]] 
|6
|}

== Geography ==
{{expand section|date=January 2023}}
=== Rivers ===

* [[Meuse]]
** [[Berwinne]]
** [[Jeker]]
***[[Yerne]]
**[[Ourthe]]
***[[Amblève (river)|Ambiève]]
****[[Roannay]]

== Economy ==
The [[Gross domestic product]] (GDP) of the province was 31.6 billion € in 2018, accounting for 6.9% of Belgium's economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 25,200 € or 84% of the EU27 average in the same year. GDP per person employed was 108% of the EU27 average.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/10474907/1-05032020-AP-EN.pdf/81807e19-e4c8-2e53-c98a-933f5bf30f58|title=Regional GDP per capita ranged from 30% to 263% of the EU average in 2018|website=Eurostat}}</ref>

==Subdivisions==
The province has an area of {{Convert|3857|km2}}, which is divided into four [[Arrondissements of Belgium|administrative districts]] (''arrondissements'' in [[French language|French]]) containing a total of 84 municipalities.

===Arrondissements===
The Province of Liège is divided into four administrative arrondissements:
<gallery>
Image:Arrondissement Huy Belgium Map.png|[[Arrondissement of Huy|Huy]]
Image:Arrondissement Liège Belgium Map.png|[[Arrondissement of Liège|Liège]]
Image:Arrondissement Verviers Belgium Map.png|[[Arrondissement of Verviers|Verviers]]
Image:Arrondissement Waremme Belgium Map.png|[[Arrondissement of Waremme|Waremme]]
</gallery>

===Municipalities===
[[Image:Municipalities Liège Belgium Map - Number.svg|right|350px|Map of the municipalities in Liège]]
[[File:Coo Waterfall Panorama.jpg|thumb|right|The Coo Waterfalls (municipality of [[Stavelot]])]]
Municipalities that have [[City status in Belgium|city status]] have a ''(city)'' behind their name.
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
# [[Amay]]
# [[Amel]]
# [[Ans, Belgium|Ans]]
# [[Anthisnes]]
# [[Aubel]]
# [[Awans]]
# [[Aywaille]]
# [[Baelen]]
# [[Bassenge]]
# [[Berloz]]
# [[Beyne-Heusay]]
# [[Blegny]]
# [[Braives]]
# [[Büllingen]]
# [[Burdinne]]
# [[Burg-Reuland]]
# [[Bütgenbach]]
# [[Chaudfontaine]]
# [[Clavier, Liège|Clavier]]
# [[Comblain-au-Pont]]
# [[Crisnée]]
# [[Dalhem]]
# [[Dison]]
# [[Donceel]]
# [[Engis]]
# [[Esneux]]
# [[Eupen]] ''(city)''
# [[Faimes]]
# [[Ferrières, Belgium|Ferrières]]
# [[Fexhe-le-Haut-Clocher]]
# [[Flémalle]]
# [[Fléron]]
# [[Geer]]
# [[Grâce-Hollogne]]
# [[Hamoir]]
# [[Hannut]] ''(city)''
# [[Héron]]
# [[Herstal]]
# [[Herve]] ''(city)''
# [[Huy]] ''(city)''
# [[Jalhay]]
# [[Juprelle]]
# [[Kelmis]]
# [[Liège]] ''(city)''
# [[Lierneux]]
# [[Limbourg]] ''(city)''
# [[Lincent]]
# [[Lontzen]]
# [[Malmedy]] ''(city)''
# [[Marchin]]
# [[Modave]]
# [[Nandrin]]
# [[Neupré]]
# [[Olne]]
# [[Oreye]]
# [[Ouffet]]
# [[Oupeye]]
# [[Pepinster]]
# [[Plombières]]
# [[Raeren]]
# [[Remicourt, Belgium|Remicourt]]
# [[Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse]]
# [[Saint-Nicolas, Liège|Saint-Nicolas]]
# [[St. Vith|Sankt Vith]] ''(city)''
# [[Seraing]] ''(city)''
# [[Soumagne]]
# [[Spa, Belgium|Spa]] ''(city)''
# [[Sprimont]]
# [[Stavelot]] ''(city)''
# [[Stoumont]]
# [[Theux]]
# [[Thimister-Clermont]]
# [[Tinlot]]
# [[Trois-Ponts]]
# [[Trooz]]
# [[Verlaine]]
# [[Verviers]] ''(city)''
# [[Villers-le-Bouillet]]
# [[Visé]] ''(city)''
# [[Waimes]]
# [[Wanze]]
# [[Waremme]] ''(city)''
# [[Wasseiges]]
# [[Welkenraedt]]
{{div col end}}

Nine municipalities of Liège form the [[German-speaking Community of Belgium]]. From north to south they are: Kelmis (43), Lontzen (48), Raeren (60), Eupen (27), Bütgenbach (17), Büllingen (14), Amel (2), Sankt Vith (64), and Burg-Reuland (16) municipalities. Malmedy (49) and Waimes (80) are [[municipalities with language facilities]] for German speakers. The other municipalities of Liège are part of the [[French Community of Belgium]].

==List of governors==
{{div col}}
*1830–1831:   [[Etienne de Sauvage]] (Liberal)
*1831–1832:   [[Jean-François Tielemans]] (Liberal)
*1832–1844:   [[Charles van den Steen de Jehay]]
*1844–1846:   [[Henri de Brouckère]] (Liberal)
*1846–1847:   [[Edmond de la Coste]] (Liberal)
*1847–1863:   [[Ferdinand de Macar]] (Liberal)
*1863–1882:   [[Charles de Luesemans]] (Liberal)
*1882–1908:   [[Léon Pety de Thozée]]
*1908–1919:   [[Henry Delvaux de Fenffe]] ([[Catholic Party (Belgium)|Catholic Party]])
*1919–1927:   [[Gaston Gregoire]] (Liberal)
*1927–1937:   [[Henri Pirard]]
*1937–1943:   [[Jules Mathieu]]
*1944–1953:   [[Joseph Leclercq]] ([[Belgian Socialist Party|PSB]])
*1953–1971:   [[Pierre Clerdent]] ([[Liberal Reformist Party (Belgium)|PRL]])
*1972–1990:   [[Gilbert Mottard]] ([[Socialist Party (francophone Belgium)|PS]])
*1990–2004:   [[Paul Bolland (politician)|Paul Bolland]]
*2004–2015: [[Michel Foret]] ([[Reformist Movement|MR]])
*2015–present [[Hervé Jamar]] ([[Reformist Movement|MR]])
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Belgium}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.prov-liege.be Official web site of the Liège province] {{in lang|fr|de}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050209104948/http://brel.prov-liege.be/ '' Bureau des Relations Extérieures de la Province de Liège''] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Subdivisions of Belgium}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liege (Province)}}
[[Category:Liège Province| ]]
[[Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union]]
[[Category:Provinces of Wallonia]]
[[Category:Countries and territories where German is an official language]]